The University of Eastern Ohio

Published: February 24, 2008 9:25 AM

Something that this area really needs, which would provide a quick fix for the local economy as well as long-term stability, is a public four-year university. Is there an area in the state besides our own that is located farther from such an institution?

I started thinking about this the other day when I saw an ad on TV for Scioto State University, which is near Portsmouth. I thought "if a place like that can get such a school, why can't Cambridge?" Of course the answer as to why Portsmouth was so favored has an easy answer: Verne Riffe, who as Speaker of the Ohio House really knew how to take care of his constituency.

Clearly we have no one from this area to rival old Verne, and I doubt that Ohio will ever see his like again. But is it dreaming to think that this area might someday have a four-year university? Must students from Belmont, Harrison, Monroe, Noble, Muskingum, Guernsey and Tuscarawas counties be limited to Ohio University and Kent State two-year branch campuses?

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This is the 21st century after all, and Governor Strickland has emphasized the critical importance of higher education in pulling Ohio out of its economic decline. So why not a University of Eastern Ohio? And where better than right here in Guernsey County?